Monthly Archives: April 2007

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On Saturday morning I helped with stake boats at a local collegiate regatta. I was the “stakeholder” hanging on to the stern of Michigan State’s eight in this picture. The whole stake boat can move in and out by many feet and then I can make small adjustments with the boat under me so that boats in several racing lanes start at exactly the same place.

After the races, I joined David and some friends at Earth Day in downtown Indy. We had yummy Indian food!

On Sunday, David and I took Casper to Mutt Strut, a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Indianapolis which involved 1500 dogs and their owners walking around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (We took the short one-mile track, though, because Casper’s not in good enough shape to walk 2.5 miles in the hot sun!)

My teeth keep falling out. They are temporary teeth, but I’ve lost a set of two of them twice in the past two weeks. I was having lunch in the cafeteria at work and ended up with my little stubs showing:
I used the handy two-part cement the dentist gave me, a couple of disposable items from the lab to “spatulate” (it was in the instructions!), and my boss’ mirror to put my teeth back in at my desk. One of my coworkers was very impressed at my 10-minute dentistry.

At least the other nine temporary teeth are staying in.

Saw this one the other day when David and I took Casper for a walk in Irvington:

David and I are looking at this house. Mom said she wanted to see it, so I took a picture tonight, but it was obviously getting dark.

Greta passed away last night. I noticed that she’d slowed down a lot in the last few days. She was “top pig” but Josie was able to chew on her fur this week without her complaining much nor chasing her out of the Pigloo, so she obviously wasn’t feeling well. When I got home last night she was having strange seizures, swinging her head, and while it was different than I’d seen before, I assumed it was death throes.

I cuddled her for about an hour. She was actually doing her happy little squeak for awhile and wasn’t crying, so I think she was comfortable. I guess that’s the best way to go–in someone’s arms.

I adopted Greta from the Humane Society in 2003. That made her about six years old now, so that’s pretty good for a piggy. I adopted her because she was beautiful and reminded me of my special Annie, another long haired pig. I think that’s the only “impulse adoption” I’ve ever done (I was volunteering at the shelter at the time and just had to have her). I think this was a good match, because she’s the only pig who has ever bitten me repeatedly. I’m glad a little kid didn’t take her home! She was a real crank, but I didn’t care.

Greta didn’t want to be friends with Cappy, but then I adopted Josie, and suddenly the threesome worked great. Greta also became a much nicer pig! She was in charge but still got along very well with her friends (and stopped biting people too). I’m glad she had a long life with pals and didn’t suffer in the end.

A friend (and diesel engineer) sent me a link to this great ad a while back. After reading about another great Honda ad on Life in the Shadows (though I couldn’t get his link to work), I thought I’d share my ad here.

Where else can we sing about how awesome diesel cars are–with Garrison Keillor!!

Watch Grrr Ad(may be helpful to use the button on the lower right of the window to make it “original size”)

Albert is looking for a home. He was found as a stray and had been hit by a car. Now he’s all fixed up and neutered. He loves people (wants to be a lap dog and his tail is always wagging!), though he’s not so fond of other doggies. I’ll put you in touch with his foster care person if you would like to know more.

Yesterday’s dental opportunity (about the eighth one this year) resulted in 11 “new” teeth all at once. Most of them were on pre-prepped temporary crowns, which were getting pretty annoying anyway, and the last couple were new crown preps. Now I am trying to relearn to chew and talk since my bite has been opened quite a bit and frankly everything doesn’t seem to fit right. The appointment was somewhat painful (I respond slowly to anesthetic injections and usually need additional injections as well, plus those shaved teeth without the crowns are REALLY sensitive to touch, temperature, and air flow), and now I’m just sore from all the manipulation and because I apparently bit my tongue yesterday.

In a week I get these adjusted, and two weeks after that I get a whole bunch more provisional teeth put on. Then sometime after that we’ll install the “real” crowns which will hopefully be permanent and be the end of this project for the year. It also will be a chance to finally bill the insurance for all of this and I hope I will finally be reimbursed for all the funds coming out of my paycheck!

Some old lady calls me every few months and leaves a long message on my answering machine. I’ve never been home to get her call to tell her I’m not the person she thinks she’s calling. After this call, I think she thinks I’m Clara and I must be in a prayer chain or something. I hope Martha gets better! (She’s the one who sits in the back and wears the heavy glasses.)

These messages always make me laugh, and David was there when I picked up this one a couple of days ago. When I listened to it later I realized I probably shouldn’t have been laughing so hard!